UK may fall short of renewables target

Previously unpublished reports from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have revealed that Britain is failing to green its economy.

By 2020 the UK will be sourcing a mere 5% of its energy from renewables, far short of the 15% target we signed up to with the European Commission.

The news will come as a huge embarrassment to the Prime Minister who signed up to the legally-binding target; if Britain fails to meet it, the government will face substantial fines from Brussels.

The Shadow Energy Minister, Greg Clarke said the figures revealed the “fundamental failure” of Labour’s climate-change policies. “This amounts to an admission that the government is going to fail not just marginally but abjectly. For the past 10 years we have lacked a credible and comprehensive energy policy. Labour’s piecemeal approach is clearly not working.”

Britain is one of the worst performers in Europe in terms of renewable energy sourcing only 2% of its needs from non-fossil-fuel sources such as wind and landfill gas.

The Prime Minister has called for a “green revolution” and in the budget Alistair Darling put the sector at the centre of his plans to revamp the economy.

He introduced subsidies for biomass and wind generation but fears persist in industry that many projects are uneconomic. Supporting this view, is DECC’s own forecast, based on present policies and subsidies.

The department is said to announce proposals to bridge the gap. A spokeswoman from DECC argued “We are not relying on existing policies. We consulted last summer on measures to take us to our binding 15% renewable-energy target and will be publishing our strategy this summer. This will set out how we intend to meet our share of the 2020 target.” 

Taken from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6395500.ece